New York Secures $8 Million Settlement From Chumba Casino Parent VGW

New York Attorney General Letitia James has secured an $8 million settlement from VGW, the Australia-based parent of Chumba Casino, Global Poker and LuckyLand Slots, resolving her investigation into the sweepstakes casino operator.

The deal, announced Tuesday, takes the form of an Assurance of Discontinuance, a settlement in which a company resolves an attorney general’s investigation without litigation. VGW neither admits nor denies violating New York State gambling law, but the agreement lets James prosecute the company if it breaches the terms. James claims VGW ran unlawful online gambling in New York; that claim was never tested in court.

A sector regulators see as unregulated gambling

The settlement is the most concrete financial penalty yet for the sweepstakes casino sector, which lawmakers and attorneys general in nearly two dozen states consider unregulated gambling. Sweepstakes casinos offer casino-style games through a dual-currency model, and operators argue they are promotional contests governed by marketing law rather than gambling.

VGW is one of the largest operators in the sector. James targeted its three brands along with 23 other sweepstakes casinos in cease-and-desist letters in 2025, and all 26 exited New York. The state’s gambling laws exist to protect New Yorkers, James said in the announcement, and online sweepstakes casinos posed a threat to residents’ financial and mental health.

“Some New Yorkers lost tens of thousands of dollars through gambling on VGW’s platforms,” James said in the release. She said players on unregulated platforms have no way of knowing whether games are rigged or whether a winning bet would be paid.

The trade group Social Gaming Leadership Alliance defends the sector as freemium promotions that operate under the same marketing law as well-known consumer promotions.